So many board discussions are about money. Do we have enough, are we spending it correctly, is it on hand when we need it? Fundraising, too, can devolve into conversations that, too often, focus on the precise dollars needed to fill a gap with barely a mention of the deeply important reasons we need the funds in the first place.

Mission inspires and motivates. Board members, no matter how long they've been involved, need to be regularly reminded of the great work we do changing the world and improving people's lives, to re-kindle their passion to get out there asking their friends and colleagues for support.

Board members must be re-cultivated, again and again. Mission and results - why they joined your board in the first place - must stay front and center in the boardroom even as you grapple with delayed government contracts, the shifting whims of foundations, or personnel headaches. When board members understand the impact in the world their fundraising will achieve - not simply the budget line items those funds will be spent on - they'll be much more driven to go out and get the funding that's needed.

With one part of their brain board members may understand that they should engage in fundraising as a basic responsibility of governance. But often, especially for agencies with longstanding government contracts, board members are also absorbing the message that the agency will get along just fine even if they don't fundraise. Especially if staff has been doing much of the lifting, it can leave board members rationalizing: " Sure I ought to fundraise - but if I don't, we'll still carry on."

If board members believe others will get the funding job done without them, they won't rouse themselves to action. There needs to be a tension - something essential that will be lost, or something dear to the board members' hearts that will not be achieved unless they themselves step forward. Making the financial case for why achieving more on mission is not possible without board action to fill the gap, is critical.

The goal put in front of the board needs to be grounded in reality. Saying " We have a projected $200,000 gap this fiscal year" when the board's stretch fundraising capacity caps out at $50,000, doesn't move board members. On the contrary, it can even discourage - and scare - them: " No matter what we raise, we're not going to be able to make the goal."

But setting out a mini-campaign for an achievable amount - an extra $10,000 on top of the $40,000 they raised last year - could be a motivator: "If we each raise another $1,000 we can double the organization's scholarship program this summer. We can do that - and here's how!"

At the end of day, money raised is the material expression of a deeper concern for your mission. That's why, when mission and finance combine as inspiration, fundraising takes on steam.

Help your board members replace those numbers in red ink in your budget with images of joyful kids and stronger families, and you will discover your partners in fundraising are sitting alongside you in the boardroom, ready to lead the charge. 

Starting with a discussion about Vision 2020, the conversation focused on one central question, recounted executive director Cathy Hung: " If the organization wants to achieve its strategic agenda, what should the board's role be?" That discussion naturally led to fundraising: " We are asking our board members to step outside their comfort zone to ask for our organization," she explained, "and we had to give them a very clear overview of what actions they could take." Board chair Michelle Stoddard elaborated: " The retreat gave us buoyancy; we realize that fundraising starts with us, the board." Coming out of the retreat, she added, " We are really inspired to do the work we need to in order to secure the organization's future."